


Slip of the Tongue

by gwenwrites



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Adventure, M/M, Poe doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 04:35:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7028827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenwrites/pseuds/gwenwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It just slipped out. It wasn’t Poe’s fault, really. He nicknamed everyone in his head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slip of the Tongue

It just slipped out. It wasn’t Poe’s fault, really. He nicknamed everyone in his head. Jessika was Jesse, Karè was K-K, Leia Organa was the General, and Snap was… well, Snap was Snap. Nobody called him Temmin. Snap was a much better name.

Finn was a great name on its own, though. Poe had even offered it up to the stormtrooper. His stupid brain should’ve kept it at that. Sadly, it didn’t.  
They were on a mission for the General. It was supposed to be a simple job, that’s why he brought Finn along. He was still healing from his injuries on Starkiller, so Poe assumed that it would warm him up for the inevitably tougher assignments in the future. The two were just meant to scout out an old Empire base on Endor, to gather tech they could reuse and make sure the First Order weren’t trying to reuse it. 

That was an important part of their work. Picking up the old scraps from the war between the Rebellion and the Empire, and reusing them for the Resistance. It always left Poe feeling melancholy. His parents spent their lives supporting the fight against the Empire, only to have another form of them rise from the ashes. It seemed like the galaxy was doomed to repeat its mistakes.

“Poe, are you sure we’re going the right way?” Finn said. Poe resurfaced from his thoughts.

“Yeah, shouldn’t be far now.”

They were walking in the middle of a stream, avoiding the thick forest around them to avoid getting lost. The water only came up to their ankles, and both of them were wearing waterproof boots.

“Think we’ll see any Ewoks?”

“Hopefully,” Poe grinned. “They’re adorable.”

“Have you ever seen one in real life?”

“Nope. I haven’t even been to Endor before. It’ll be amazing to see that old base.”

They continued to walk, and the pilot took in the lush environment around him. It was truly gorgeous, but left him missing Yavin 4. If only he could be sent on a mission there.

“Up here,” Poe pointed towards the edge of the stream. “At least, I think it’s up here.”

“Don’t you have a map?”

“Of course I have a map. It’s just… a little confusing.” He walked over to the bank of the creek. “I’ll boost you up.”

He laced his fingers together and kneeled down so Finn could place his boot there. Poe winced as Finn’s heel dug into his hands.

“Alright, ready? One, two, three!” Finn pushed against him, grunting as he launched himself up. Laying on his stomach, he reached a hand out to the man below. With Finn’s help, he climbed up.

“Force, I need to work out more.” Poe sighed.

Finn scoffed. “Sure.” He stood up, brushing the dirt from his clothes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Poe asked, but the other man was already making his way into the trees.

///

He looked at the structure in awe. Vines and underbrush had almost completely overtaken the small Empire outpost, but the distinct architecture was still visible.

“Looks like nobody’s been here for years.” Poe said.

“We should still be careful. After all these years, something could’ve moved in.”

“Right.” Poe walked towards the closed door. He tried the buttons to the side of the door, just to make sure it was locked. Sadly, he wasn’t that lucky. The pilot took a screwdriver out of his backpack. He popped the plate covering the lock mechanism off and began to fiddle with the wires.

“I’m going to check around the perimeter.” Finn said.

“Be careful, babe.” Poe replied. The pet name rolled off of the tongue, like it was nothing. Poe’s mouth went dry.

“What?”

He swallowed. “Nothing. Just be careful.”

“Alright.” The ex-stormtroopers footsteps faded into the distance. Poe wanted to hit his head against the metal in front of him.

“You can never just-” He struggled to pull a piece of machinery out. “Shut your-” The pilot tumbled backwards. He sat on the ground for a moment, rubbing his shoulder. The man inspected the technology in his hands. It was a simple cube with multiple wires sticking out of it. To his shock, the door began to slide open slowly.

“Finn!” Poe called. He stood up and peeked inside. The hallway stretched into pitch black. As his friend returned, he pulled two flashlights out of his bag.

“How’d you get it open?”

Poe shrugged. “I don’t really know.” He handed a flashlight to Finn. They both clicked them on.

Finn stepped forward, taking a deep breath. “Let’s do this.” The two walked shoulder to shoulder, the darkness quickly enveloping them.

“I’m not the only one getting the heebie jeebies, right?” Poe whispered.

“Yeah, it’s not just you.” Finn replied. They walked in silence for a couple moments more. Poe began quietly humming to calm the uneasy feeling rising in his chest. They entered a larger room.

“Shit.” He muttered, staring at the ground. A skeleton was lying on the ground, wearing an Empire officer uniform. He stepped around it, frowning.

“Finn, we’re probably going to find some dead bodies here.” He said.

“Yeah,” Finn responded. “We should start looking for devices.” Poe nodded, even though Finn couldn’t see him through the darkness. He made his way to the edge of the room, searching for tech.

“I think I found something.” Finn said. His voice echoed around the room. Poe walked towards him. They both shone their flashlights on the computing devices in front of them.

“Is this a credit chip?” Finn picked up the thin yellow card.

“Yeah,” Poe said. “I wonder how much it has on it.”

Finn pocketed it. “Guess we’ll see.”

///

“Blast!” Poe kicked the wall in frustration. They had gone through multiple rooms and hallways, but couldn’t find any technology that was useful.

“Poe,” Finn whispered.

“What?”

“Be quiet.” The ex-stormtrooper hissed. He slowly brought his flashlight beam up to the darkness in front of him. Poe immediately jumped back when he saw the two large black eyes staring at him.

“Uh…” Finn said. “Hi?”

“Hi, really? The only thing you could think to say is-” He was interrupted by the Ewok’s mumbling.

“It’s actually really cute.” Finn said.

“Ewoks can be extremely dangerous. Remember, they helped take down the second death star.”

The Ewok continued to talk in its own language. The humanoid creature stepped forward. It held up a spear, it’s talking turning into growling.

“What do we do?” Finn asked, stepping backwards.

“I have a blaster.” Poe said.

“No! We can’t shoot him!”

“How do you know its gender?”

“I don’t!” Finn grabbed Poe by the arm. “Wait, I have an idea. Give me your backpack.” The pilot slid the bag off of his shoulders.

“Hey, we’re not here to hurt you…” Poe said. He didn’t know how something with fluffy brown fur could be threatening, but somehow was.

“Here,” Finn held out his hand. It was filled with bantha jerky. The Ewok stepped back, then closer. After sniffing it, the creature took the food with it’s fluffy paws and began to eat.

“Hey, that was mine.” Poe huffed. Still, he watched as the Ewok chewed, making satisfied noises.

Poe sighed. “I wish I knew Ewokese. Then I could ask if there’s working tech in here.”

“Should we keep looking?” Finn asked.

“Yeah,” Poe nodded. “Now if you’ll excuse us, buddy, we’ve got some more searching to do.”

///

“I can’t say I’m surprised.” Poe shook his head, looking down at their dismal amount of items. “But I had hoped we’d find more.”

“We did get to meet an Ewok.” Finn replied.

They were sitting outside the entrance to the Empire base, sharing a bottle of water between them. They had put their small collection on the ground in front of them to inspect it.

“Should we head back to the x-wing now?”

“In a second.” Poe leaned back on his elbows, staring up at the trees above him. Sun dappled the ground and warmed him. Finn did the same, sighing into relaxation.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Finn murmured. “Let’s just stay here for awhile.” Poe closed his eyes and tipped his chin towards the sky. It felt like he was under the tree his parents planted by his house, feeling the Force flow through him.

There weren’t any Force sensitive trees here, but Poe still felt something powerful in his veins. He didn’t want to get up because of the fear that this feeling would go away.

“Do you feel it?”

“Yes.”

///

Poe didn’t know how long they stayed under the trees. It could’ve been hours or minutes in a state between wakefulness and sleep.

“I don’t really want to leave.” Finn said, his voice soft.

“Yeah. This place is…” He couldn’t find the words.

They had landed in a clearing, careful not to attract too much attention by the off chance that the First Order was there. The two clambered into the modified T-70 X-wing. “Modified” really made it sound better than it was. It was basically a T-70 with another seat shoved in behind the pilot’s seat. It was cramped and uncomfortable, but was their only option for this mission. It would’ve been impractical for them to take a larger ship, and two people couldn’t fit in Poe’s black x-wing.

“By the time we’re back to D’Qar,” Finn grumbled. “My spine will actually be severed.”

Poe winced, remembering the state Finn was in after the battle on Starkiller. He nearly died and had to spend two weeks in a coma, being pulled in and out of a bacta tank.

“That was a joke.” Finn said. “You should laugh.”

Poe started up the engine. “It’s not that funny.” Still, he huffed out a chuckle. “We’ll be back soon, okay? Then you can go back to your forced recovery time, because I know you enjoyed that so much.”

The ex-stormtrooper groaned. “No, please. I’d rather my spine be actually cut in half than to have to spend one more day rubbing bacta gel on my shoulder and watching holo films that make no sense what-so-ever.”

“Those were all my favorite holo films!”

///

“You took far longer than expected, commander Dameron.” General Organa said. She looked completely serious, but the spark of humor in her eyes betrayed her.

“It’s just my fault? I recall that one new Resistance member came with me.”

“Yes, it is your fault.” Leia patted Finn on the shoulder. “Finn would never try to take longer than needed. You, on the other hand…”

He beamed, and Poe pouted. The General asked them a couple more questions before returning to her many, tasks.

“Want to go to the cafe?” The pilot asked.

“I’ll meet you there,” Finn said. Poe nodded. The ex-stormtrooper looked around the room for a shiny droid. C-3PO was easy to spot, due to his shiny metal body.  
“Threepio,” Finn said. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Ah, Finn!” C-3PO walked over to him. “Hello! How was Endor? I remember it as if it was yesterday. Did you know that the Ewoks thought I was a god?”

“They did?” Finn shook his head. He didn’t have time to chat. “I mean, I have a question.”

“Oh, of course.” C-3PO waved his red hand. “Is something troubling you?”

“I was wondering what “babe” means.” Finn said.

“In Galactic Basic Standard, “babe” is an informal and affectionate form of address, typically given to a romantic partner. Would you like for me to use it in a sentence?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you for the gift, babe.” C-3PO said. “Do you have any other questions? My internal dictionary has millions of words, billions in other languages.”

“I’m alright, thank you.” Finn rushed out. “I’m starving. We gave our snacks to an Ewok so it wouldn’t try to impale us- I better go.”

The droid waved as Finn slipped into the crowd of Resistance members. “Goodbye, Finn!”

///

“Hey, buddy!” Poe said. Jessika slid over so Finn could sit beside the pilot. He sat down at the long table, his elbow bumping against Poe’s. The D’Qar cafe was almost as big as one of the hangars, and was always busy.

“I got you a plate of food,” Poe said. “and some bantha milk.”

Finn took a large bite. “Thank you.” He smiled after a sip of the blue milk. The pilots (and ex-stormtrooper) chatted and laughed. Occasionally, Finn felt himself being naturally separated from the conversation through inside jokes. Whenever that happened, Poe would ask him a question or knock his knee against his with a smile, pulling him back into the dialogue.

The pilots were going to have drinks in Snap’s room, but Finn and Poe declined joining them.

“Honestly, I’m exhausted.” Poe yawned.

“Me too,” Finn nodded. “I could start sleeping standing up.” As soon as he said it, his brain seemed to actually process how worn out he really was. His shoulders slumped, his eyelids heavy. They walked to their quarters in sleepy silence.

The two stripped to their underwear, turned out the light, and laid down in their beds. Finn was careful not to look at Poe as he was changing. Seconds after they were in darkness, Finn took in a deep breath.

“Poe?”

“Mhm?”

“You have a nickname for everyone.”

“Almost everyone, yeah.”

“What’s my nickname?”

“Finn, I guess?” Poe said, then winced. Finn was his name, his actual name. Just because the First Order didn’t give him a real one didn’t mean it was simply a nickname. “No, I mean… That was a name I offered to you, so it’s kind of like a nickname, right?”

“Okay.” Finn paused. “I never had a nickname as a trooper, either. There was Slip, Nines, and Zeros. I was always just FN-2187.”

“I’ll make up a nickname for you.” Poe rushed out. “Just give me a couple days. You’ll probably hate it.”

“I have an idea for you.”

“That’s not really how it works, I’m supposed to-”

“Babe.” Finn said. “You can call me babe. If you want.”

Poe held his breath for a second. “You heard me say that?”

“Yeah.”

“I could- I could call you that. Yeah.”

Finn smiled up at the ceiling. “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.


End file.
